Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates in general to wireless power transmission systems, and more specifically to methods of testing wireless power receivers.
Background Information
Electronic devices such as laptop computers, smartphones, portable gaming devices, tablets and so forth may require power for performing their intended functions. This may require having to charge electronic equipment at least once a day, or in high-demand electronic devices more than once a day. Such an activity may be tedious and may represent a burden to users. For example, a user may be required to carry chargers in case his electronic equipment is lacking power. In addition, users have to find available power sources to connect to. Lastly, users must plug in to a wall power socket or other power supply to be able to charge his or her electronic device.
An approach to mitigate this issue may include using RF waves through suitable power transmission techniques such as pocket-forming. This approach may provide wireless power transmission while eliminating the use of wires or pads for charging devices. In addition, electronic equipment may require less components as typical wall chargers may not be required. In some cases, even batteries may be eliminated as a device may fully be powered wirelessly.
The approach may enable the creation of wireless power networks similar in structure to regular wireless local area networks (WLAN) where a wireless access point is used to provide internet or intranet access to different devices. An access point or wireless transmitter may provide wireless power charging to different receiver devices. However, wireless power transmission may become less effective as the distance between a transmitter and a receiver increases, and may additionally suffer where adverse RF conditions are present in the charging environment. In some applications, pocket forming may require exclusive communication with the power receiver in order to effectively track its location in order to form a pocket of energy.
Additionally, each wireless power receiver of a wireless power transmission system may encounter unexpected or unpredictable errors due to conditions external to said system, or due to defects within software design of said system, due to degradation or unexpected operation of receiver hardware or system hardware. Software within wireless power receivers may include error detection and correction methods so that normal operation of said system may continue in the event of any wireless power receiver error.
Normal, error-free operation of wireless power receivers may be essential for wireless transmission of power from wireless power transmitters to wireless power receivers for various reasons. Reason (A) is that wireless power transmitters have to be capable of dynamically tracking the location of wireless power receivers to continuously determine if a wireless power receiver is nearby or within power transmission range, among other things. Reason (B) is that wireless power transmitters have to continuously read the amount of power that a wireless power receiver is presently receiving for the adjustment of the direction of the transmitter's array of power transmission antennas to maximize power transmission to wireless power receiver, and to allow. Reason (C) is for transmitter to communicate commands to power receiver to control its relay switch that controls the electrical connection to attached client device for transmission of power to said device.
One problem that may arise during system operation may be that if the wireless power receiver software is not tested for error conditions, or if testing cannot be done manually, or if manual testing may not have been performed, or was inadvertently not performed then defects in said receiver software may not be corrected and may cause interruption or unwanted cessation of normal operation of said system.
Another problem may be that if wireless power receiver hardware is not tested for error conditions, or if testing cannot be done manually, or if manual testing was inadvertently not performed, then error conditions in wireless power receiver hardware or errors caused by the environment external to the system may not be detected and may cause a malfunction in receiver's software resulting in interruption or unwanted cessation of normal operation of said system.
Another problem may be that if any of these error conditions only occurs infrequently and was not tested by using automatic test software, then wireless power receiver software may fail to correctly respond to the error condition and may result in interruption or unwanted cessation of normal operation of said system.
Thus, there is a need for providing methods to address these and other concerns.